Long Bow

Ok some questions on pillaging.

If I go to pillage a city do I have to defeat the whole army?

If by sea do I have to defeat their navy and army?

If I pillage and the person is off line is there anyway they know who did it?

If their online will they see my troop movement and know Im coming?


I know these are stupid questions and I think I know the answers but Im a little unsure. I havent done much pillaging except for a few inactive cities just to help contribute to the mill etc.

draeh

Yes.

Yes.

Yes, from the combat report they will see when coming back online.

Yes.

The only stupid questions are the ones left unasked.

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machowner

If I go to pillage a city do I have to defeat the whole army?

Yes or you have to have a 3:1 advantage (unsure on the exact ratio).

If by sea do I have to defeat their navy and army?

If they have a navy, you will have to defeat it and the army in order to pillage.

If I pillage and the person is off line is there anyway they know who did it?

Yea, they get a battle report just like yours.

If their online will they see my troop movement and know Im coming?

Yes and they could build up some forces or ship their goods out, depending on the amount of time they have to prepare.

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Long Bow

Thank you both for the quick reply. You saved me a bit of trouble with potentially pillaging the wrong person.

I had hoped that people who were offline would not know who pillaged them but better to know that now. I'm just glad I didn't pillage a "big dog" in hopes of getting some loot only to be get an a$$ kicking

Tarenth

Technically you don't have to beat the 'whole army' you just have to beat it into submission. Once you get a 3:1 advantage in power you are declared the victor be it by troop casualties or troops withdrawing from fatigue (low stamina gives a 60% chance per unit of desertion). Not sure if that means Offense : Defense or Offense : Offense or any other combination of the stats your units have. We know from the FAQ that a 3:1 is required, but they never clarify what exactly you need to have a 3:1 of.

All attacks off your island are by sea and until they implement warship escorts of troops your attacks will always be either by land forces or naval units. If you are attacking off your island you MUST defeat the target's naval defense force first and put the harbor into a blockade. If you fail to do so then the land forces you send (going via peaceful and unarmed cargo ship) will either be turned away or destroyed outright by the defending warships (was never sure which). You either have to utterly destroy all naval units or establish a blockade via a 3:1 advantage in order to land troops during the blockade.


Some people like destroying their trade port in order to limit losses. Others shuffle military units around (especially naval units) in order to fend off an attack. However mostly people tend to just bend over and take it if they can't respond quickly enough. This will especially be true with action points since you may not have the pointed required to ship everything out. Port burning may take first place as a defensive tactic.

It is, however, always amusing to see an incoming land force and scrape together a single warship to send back all those troop ships. Nothing like turning back 50 archers with a single ram ship to make you laugh out loud and buy precious time before they try to blockade.

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My sanity is not in question...
It was a confirmed casualty some time ago.

Long Bow

Good points Tarenth. I was slowly building up some troops and my walls while having no navy at all. I then realised that I would be... wait for... SUNK (zing) if I didn't have a few ballista ships in port to at least make pillaging more difficult.